Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler

2026-05-23 · 75 min · 23 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ references We Defy Chapters Special History Ebook book

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N
→ references The Most Dangerous Man By Jack Murphy book

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803651/the-most-dangerous-man-by-jack-murphy/paperback
→ discusses Society & Culture concept

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Feed category: Society & Culture
→ discusses History website

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Feed category: History
→ discusses Documentary concept

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Feed category: Documentary
→ discusses Government company

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Feed category: Government
→ hosted by dee takos company

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Feed author/publisher: dee takos
→ references bluechew.com website

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Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://bluechew.com/
→ references Theteamhouse website

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Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouse
→ references @EyesOnGeopoliticsPod website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured

Entities found in this episode

websites 8

mentioned History website

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
mentioned bluechew.com website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://bluechew.com/
mentioned Theteamhouse website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouse
mentioned @EyesOnGeopoliticsPod website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured
discusses History website

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
references bluechew.com website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://bluechew.com/
references Theteamhouse website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouse
references @EyesOnGeopoliticsPod website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured

books 6

mentioned We Defy Chapters Special History Ebook book

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N
mentioned The Most Dangerous Man By Jack Murphy book

0.90

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803651/the-most-dangerous-man-by-jack-murphy/paperback
references We Defy Chapters Special History Ebook book

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N
references The Most Dangerous Man By Jack Murphy book

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler": https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803651/the-most-dangerous-man-by-jack-murphy/paperback
mentioned We Defy: The Lost Chapters of Special Forces History book

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new book "We Defy: The Lost Chapters of Special Forces History"
mentioned The most dangerous man in the world book

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NEW BOOK "THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN"

concepts 5

mentioned Society & Culture concept

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Feed category: Society & Culture
mentioned Documentary concept

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Feed category: Documentary
mentioned Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler concept

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Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler
discusses Society & Culture concept

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Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses Documentary concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Documentary

companys 4

mentioned Government company

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Feed category: Government
discusses Government company

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Feed category: Government
hosted by dee takos company

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Feed author/publisher: dee takos
mentioned CIA company

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CIA

Episode description as stored

Former CIA targeting officer Brittany Butler joins us to discuss her path from a small town in Georgia to the CIA, where she helped build target packages against extremist networks in Iraq and Afghanistan. She breaks down what targeting officers actually do, the realities of working with detainees and liaison partners, and how the fight evolved from AQI toward ISIS and Taliban senior leadership. Brittany also talks about burnout, leaving the agency to focus on family, her work supporting Afghan women, and how those experiences shaped her spy novels The Syndicate Spy and The Patriot’s Daughter. Grab Brittany's book here: https://a.co/d/0j2KhEeK Today's Sponsors: GhostBed ⬇️ https://www.ghostbed.com/house FOR 10% off! Blue Chew ⬇️ https://bluechew.com/ Get 1 month free when you buy 2 of BlueChew Gold with code "HOUSECALL" Quince⬇️ go to: https://www.quince.com/house for free shipping and 365 day returns For ad free video and audio and access to live streams and Eyes On Geopolitics...JOIN OUR PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/c/TheTeamHouse To help support the show and for all bonus content including: -live shows and asking guest questions -ad free audio and video -early access to shows -Access to ALL bonus segments with our guests Subscribe to our Patreon! ⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse Support the show here:⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse ___________________________________________________ PRE ORDER JACK'S NEW BOOK "THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN" ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803651/the-most-dangerous-man-by-jack-murphy/paperback/ Subscribe to the new EYES ON podcast here:⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured __________________________________ Jack Murphy's new book "We Defy: The Lost Chapters of Special Forces History" ⬇️ https://www.amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N/ —————————————————————— Or make a one time donation at: ⬇️ https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouse Social Media: ⬇️ The Team House Instagram: https://instagram.com/the.team.house?utm_medium=copy_link The Team House Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTeamHousePod Jack’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/jackmcmurph?utm_medium=copy_link Jack’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackmurphyrgr?s=21 Team House Discord: ⬇️ https://discord.gg/wHFHYM6 "Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio" 00:00 — Start / Britney Butler joins The Team House 02:06 — Growing up in Georgia and wanting a life overseas 02:39 — Embassy internship in Paris and first getting noticed by CIA 07:57 — Applying to CIA and going through the recruitment process 10:06 — Lifestyle polygraphs, clearance stress, and “confessing” too much 14:15 — From case officer track to CIA targeting officer 15:09 — The post-9/11 rise of targeting officers 16:16 — Training as a targeter and learning the job under pressure 19:09 — Iraq: building target packages against Sunni extremist networks 21:21 — Sitting across from detainees and calling out their lies 23:48 — Why people joined terrorist groups: coercion, money, and ideology 27:19 — AQI, Iraq, and seeing the threat evolve toward ISIS 28:22 — Moving to Afghanistan-Pakistan and targeting senior leadership 32:46 — Taliban safe haven, Pakistan, and why the war wasn’t going away 37:10 — Kill/capture, recruitment, drone strikes, and how targeting changed 37:46 — Liaison missions and high-threat meetings without U.S. security 41:44 — Marriage, family, and balancing CIA work with home life 45:25 — Burnout, maternity leave, and deciding to leave the agency 48:11 — Afghan women’s rights work and the start of her writing career 52:24 — The Syndicate Spy and writing women into power in the Middle East 55:46 — The Patriot’s Daughter, Russia, disinformation, and civil war fiction 59:16 — CIA tradecraft in fiction and publication review 01:01:00 — Book tour, where to find Britney, and closing questions 01:02:20 — Khost, UBL, fallen CIA officers, and final reflections Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker